CHRISTMAS ISLAND AND COCOS-KEELING ISLAND TRIP REPORT NOV-DEC 2008
PART 2 OF 4.
On our 4th day we took an afternoon boat trip along the northern coast. I did
this trip in March 08 when I was on the island looking for new places to
explore. I’d always been keen to explore one of the most inaccessible parts of
Christmas Island, the rugged coastline. Virtually impossible to access from
shore, a boat was my only option. So in March I set about finding a boat
charter operator that would cruise slowly along the coastline for a few hours
while we observed the thousands of roosting and nesting seabirds as well as
searched for other interesting species such as vagrant kingfishers from Asia
and species like Blue Rock Thrush.
Half our group boarded the boat at Flying Fish Cove and after a close
inspection of the noddies on the phosphate loader we headed west towards
North/West Point. The coastal terraces are an incredible sight from the water
with a boobies, frigatebirds, noddies or tropicbirds in nearly every tree.. We
cruised past caves, bays and remote beaches, finally stopping for a snorkel on
West White Beach.
West White Beach is one of the islands premier dive locations and we spent
20min drifting over the vast coral garden which sits adjacent to the 1500ft
drop off. Swimming out over the drop off we climbed back aboard the boat to
greet those that didn’t snorkel and to continue our trip along the coast. As
the sun was setting we cruised back into Flying Fish Cove after a very
pleasurable afternoon.
On the morning of day 5 we visited the airport runway and located five Oriental
Pratincole. Whilst Bill was returning to the airport via Gaze Rd he sighted an
unusual Gull/Tern with a yellow bill and blackish cap. We were soon spread out
along Gaze Rd and the surrounding ocean front searching for this vagrant
gull/tern but after two hours of searching we failed to find it. Later in the
day we located Grey Plover and had excellent views of the local sub sp of
Emerald Dove.
On the morning of day five I decided to try the Winifred Beach track. The track
had been closed for two years and had become badly overgrown and impassible.
I’d heard from Parks Australia staff that they had cleared it, so off we went.
In March 2008 we tried unsuccessfully to reach the end but the fallen trees and
unmanageable vegetation stopped us a kilometre short of the end. The drive to
Winifred Beach is one of most challenging on the island but certainly worth the
effort. We spent a few hours reaching our destination, walking along tracks
that had obviously had not been used for a long time.
In the afternoon the other half of our group took the boat trip along coast..
This time we headed east around the point towards the casino before again
returning to West White Beach, stopping to photograph a close flock of feeding
Red-footed Boobies. We again spent a very satisfying afternoon cruising back to
the cove, arriving just on dusk and in time to head off to Sunset Resort for a
BBQ roast which Lisa Preston from Christmas Island Travel had splendidly
prepared for our group.
On day 6 we visited The Dales. The road had been closed all week due to the
red crab migration and we were keen to do this walk before we left the island.
As we walked towards Hughs Dale, Robber Crabs were especially common
particularly near the Arenga Palms Arenga listeri , which is one of their
favourite foods. We enjoyed close views of relatively tame Island Thrush which
were a regular occurrence in the Dales as well as Blue Crabs near the
freshwater streams. Tahitian Chestnut Inocarpus fagifer, one of the native
species that dominates the rainforest canopy on Christmas Island were common as
were the ubiquitous Red Crabs which had clipped, pruned and eaten the forest
floor bare on this part of the island. After taking a few photos of the
waterfall, Al noticed a Christmas Island Pipistrelle Pipistrellus murrayi
flying near the waterfall. The pipistrelle is a small endangered endemic micro
bat weighing around 3 to 4.5 grams, which has for
unknown reasons experienced a rapid decline in numbers over the last decade.
In the late afternoon after arriving at the waterfall some of us slowly climbed
to the fresh water spring at the top of the falls. We were greeted by several
Linchi Swiftlet drinking in the spring and a couple of Christmas Island
Pipistrelle flying below the canopy.
TO BE CONTINUED........
Cheers
Richard Baxter
Birding Tours Australia
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